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Friday, March 30, 2012

Constructor: Joe Krozel

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none

Word of the Day: EMMA Watson (13D: Actress Watson) —

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (born 15 April 1990) is an English actress and model.

Watson rose to prominence playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series. Watson was cast as Hermione at the age of nine, having previously acted only in school plays.[2] From 2001 to 2011, she starred in all eight Harry Potter films alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint.[3] Watson's work on the Harry Potterseries has earned her several awards and more than £10 million.[4] She made her modelling debut for Burberry's Autumn/Winter campaign in 2009. (wikipedia)

• • •

If I never saw another quad stack again in my life, that would be fine. Ideal. It's been done many times, and the whole set-up usually doesn't allow for very interesting fill—though this stack is not bad, by any means. In fact, this is as much as I've enjoyed a Krozel puzzle in a Long time (amazing what you can do when you're not stunting or going for a super low word-count). I think the puzzle might actually be Easy—I was somewhat faster than my average, but I see now that this puzzle is super-sized (15x16), so that makes my fast time even faster (relatively speaking). Took many of the small crosses to bring down a lot of those 15s, but in the end there were only a couple points of any significant struggle:

Couldn't figure out 30D: Formed another congress. Had RESAT, and then REWED (stupid ETHS can be spelled EDHS, as well, hence the D/T confusion) (40A: Old English letters). Got to REMET only after I somehow figured out IMITATION BUTTER (38A: Promise, e.g.). To do that, I had to change SEWN ON to SEWN IN (22D: Like many monograms on clothing).

My John Paul II was a POPE before he was a POLE. I can't be the only one who made that mistake. I also wrote in EPIC instead of EPOS at first (53D: "Beowulf" or "Gilgamesh").

Every other part of the grid, I moved through steadily. Stuff like DOMES and ISTH. and ARRESTEE took some pondering, but not too much. My favorite part of the grid, by far, is TRIPLE WORD SCORE (29A: Great red spot?). Great answer, even greater clue—and I despise Scrabble.

Bullets:

17A: Dubious claim after crying wolf ("I MEAN IT THIS TIME") — took a lot of work, esp. since I came at it backwards.

56A: 1991 Jackie Chan film ("OPERATION CONDOR") — Wow. Talk about your wayback machine. This is several years before Chan became a star in America.

61A: Megillah book (ESTHER) — "Megillah" is a new word for me. I'm guessing it's not meant to be followed by the word "Gerillah."

6D: First name in 1970s tyranny (IDI) — first thing in the grid.

31D: N.B.A. great Thomas (ISIAH) — another significant gimme.

32D: Pirates' hangout (PITTSBURGH) — "Hangout"'s a bit of a stretch, but PITTSBURGH's a good-looking answer.

58D: Runner with a hood (CAR) — another semi-strained clue, but very gettable, nonetheless.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. Here's a birthday / tribute puzzle for you. Warning: it revolves around the lyrics to a song. If you don't know the song, the puzzle will be doable, but at least partially mystifying. The song was very popular, so I'm hoping it resonates with at least some of you. You can get the .pdf or .puz file here (at Amy's place). And here's the SOLUTION. And (spoiler alert) here's the song it's based on.UCanSolveThis

103
comments:

Another trademark multi-stack puzzle from Joe Krozel who seems to concoct these beauties with such ease one wonders if he has a secret cache of crossword elves doing his first drafts.

This one has an impressive quad stack, smack dab in the middle of the grid and a quick search tells us that there have only ever been 6 single quad puzzles published by the Times during Will’s reign and, surprise, surprise, 4 of them are by Joe Krozel.

And, if you really want to be impressed, the big daddies of stacked puzzles are those with two quad stacks in the puzzle (that means that 50% of the puzzle is made up of 8 clues) and there have only ever been 4 of them in the Times, with 3 of them being by Joe Krozel!

The only problem with today’s crossword was that the 15’s seemed to come too easily and perhaps it might be best to point out that Joe might be making them too accessible but, still, he has given us some wonderful shorter entries like RASTA, PITTSBURGH, SORTA , ZELDAS and SLURPS*, good stuff which helps to sooth the voracious appetites of crossword masochists .

Kudos again to Joe K., King of the Quads.

*- With apologies to Joe, I can’t help but mention that Patrick Berry used SLURPS in a puzzle also, in 2003, cluing it as “Conspicuous consumption?” Wow, these guys are good!

I tried to weigh in yesterday -- neither loved, nor hated the musical theme, and thought difficulty was right on for Thursday -- but couldn't post a comment, as the wi-fi here on the beach in Bali is spotty.

Moved briskly (for me) through today's puzzle with the exceptions of getting hung up on TEeS (carried around in golf carts) and falling for the POpE gag, which I shouldn't have, since no long clue without a ? would yield an answer starting with PONG.

This was really three separate puzzles. I hate when the grid shape cuts off your momentum like that.

I ran through the top third like a man on fire.It seriously felt like a Monday. I was sure I was in record breaking territory but I slowed way down once I hit the middle quads.

Was a bit irked by the commercial feel of Promise and Starbucks.

I have not watched a karate movie since I was about twelve, used to love em but now I seem to hate all action films.Something about having to sit still while adrenaline courses through my veins is very unappealing to me.

Still grinning from that run through the top third, it was the kind of performance I fantasize about pulling off at ACPT.

Sensational puzzle. The quad stack is amazing, with such vibrant phrases and words throughout.

I love it when the puzzle seems to be talking to you: "No need to thank me -- I mean it this time!"

Never heard of the word EPO so even though I had it in the grid on crosses I needed to look it up post-solve. Had epic originally but ESTHER was a gimme in that context for a book of Megillah.

"The whole megillah" ought to find its way into a quad stack one day, if it hasn't already. For any non-Jews outside of NY or L.A., it is an anglicized Yiddish idiom for "the whole enchilada". The Megillah is one of the sections of the Old Testament and includes a long and winding set of tales, including Esther -- an epic if you will.

Hand up for SEWNoN, POpE, and EPic. The first thing I wrote in was "scan" for SKIM.

For "defense option," my first thought before looking at the spaces was "king's indian," and I haven't played chess in years.

I like the word PECULIAR and need to use it more.

For LITER, I would have been happier with a soft drink kind of clue; we see "litre" a lot for gas in other countries, but I don't think "gas" when I see LITER.

Favorite was TRIPLEWORDSCORE. We play Scrabble as a family, and since we're all pretty bad, we end up with this constipated mess in the middle that just makes everything worse. Then we argue a lot, and someone usually gets really angry. Plus, my husband instists we use a dictionary from the 1950s, so "google," "app," and "laptop" are unacceptable to him. Fun times.

Rex pretty much described my solving experience. REwEd would have had a nice Liz Taylor/Richard Burton SORTA symmetry with END IT. Oh well.

My first thought for 32D was PNC Park, PITTSBURGH is much better. It also provided my anchor in the south, which was my last section to finish (middle, north, south - three separate puzzles indeed).

With ESTHER firmly in place I realized that I don't actually know what makes an ode an ode. EPOS is unfamiliar to me, but the long crosses fixed my ignorance. I am still ignorant of who EAP might be, having tried TSE to begin with. I'm also wondering how TEAS fits the clue.

I do believe this is my first clean solve of a Krozel puzzle. Obviously, his constructing skills are improving. (that's a joke for you literal-minded readers)

EPOS? Really? Since @acme already knew it, I guess it's a word - coulda fooled me, though. Is it ancient Greek, or a modern shortening like demo or repo?

I had all the same writeovers, and while I knew Promise was a commercial product, I was thinking dish detergent, so that took me some time. Also tried TRIPLE WORD SpacE first, and washED before RINSED.

@Loren, I guess LITre would have to be petrol unit;but you're right, we don't use them for gas.

I can never just write in OTOE (33D) because I always think, "well, it could be CROW." I should just accept that it never will be.

Very much enjoyed today's and yesterday's puzzles, though my solving experiences were completely different - failure yesterday, cruised today.

Huge Scrabble fan over the years, but still hesitated on TRIPLE WORD SCORE even though I had it with just a few crosses. Was that square really Red? I guess so.... POPE for POLE briefly hid LONG TERM PARKING, and also had EDHS for ETHS, as well as YABBA for DABBA. Caught onto the Promise word play immediately, but originally though MARGARINE for BUTTER. Thank goodness I didn't throw that in....

Also like the tiny 6/8 letter stacks with MANTOMAN/SYNTAX and BALLAD/PECULIAR.

Why crosswords are superior to Scrabble: In crosswords you have a limitless number of letters with which to engage in battle; in Scrabble, only seven. Talk about aggravation....

This puzzle reflects what I mentioned yesterday. I'm sure Joe---I agree, a brilliant constructor---and Will were pleased with themselves over the multiple stacks and lack of black space. But to me, that unnecessary and selfishly ego-satisfying goal made the puzzle waaaaay too easy for a Friday.

Read the long answers---Do they compel? enthuse? enlighten? sparkle? Not for me. And the relatively pedestrian nature of the long answers made the easy verticals solve the stacks without much effort. That 'pope' v. 'Pole' thing could have kept me busy for a while, except that the lengthy, trick-less horizontals made the fix self-evident without breathing hard.

One other thing: With these multiple long answers, the number of clues/answers is greatly reduced. Yesterday there were 35 across clues; today only 24. To me one of the great pleasures of late-week puzzles is the need to get into the constructor's head, to try to envision the twists and tricks of their more wicked cluing. With fewer clues/answers, there are fewer opportunities for the creator to present me with those wonderful 'aha!' moments.

Yesterday's challenge was aggravating, but at least it was a challenge. Today was a waste of $2.50 and a disappointment.

Speaking of which: At that price, the biased rag that the once great Times has become is making me seriously consider getting the on-line crossword package---even given the pleasure I find with pen on newsprint. Heresy, I know....

About as enjoyable a puzzle as can be with eight stacked 15s. I was expecting some really crappy down fill in the middle, but amazingly there isn't any - DABBA is about as dodgy as it got today. Maybe, as some here are asserting, this is too easy for a Friday, but I'll take that over a slog of garbage fill any day. Some nice cluing at 3A, 19A, 29A, 55A and 26D (which I initially thought might be DANNY, as in the news anchor).

I didn't fall for the trick at 52D (felt that clue would never be used for POPE on a Friday) but I certainly flailed elsewhere, most notably with EPIC. Having gotten some other parts of 60A, I almost convinced myself it was LINEFORMINGHERE, which isn't language on any sign I have heard of.

Still haven't plowed through all 124 comments yesterday. It's quite a conundrum, wanting more people to join in on the blog versus becoming unwieldy in length.

Fine puzzle, though I agree with @Tobias that it's three puzzles with tenuous links. Is it coincidence that my favorite entries are the two long downs? INTOXICATE and PITTSBUTRGH. liked the clues for them, too.

Such a shame Doug had to bash the Gray Lady in his final paragraph. Until he got to that I was about to say I agreed with every word in his post today!

But like he says, this was way too easy for a Friday. It's a very good easy themeless, but because the NYT won't run even an easy themeless earlier than Friday, it comes on a day when I want more challenge. Maybe quad-stack puzzles, stunts that they are, should run on Thursdays. I wasn't even tricked by the John Paul II clue--I immediately thought, "POPE is too obvious for a Friday, so it's POLE." EPOS and ALATE provided the only difficulty.

Matt Gaffney had an awesome edition of his Weekly Crossword Contest last summer that featured TRIPLE WORD SCORE as a grid-spanner and the answer to the metapuzzle spelled out in the squares where the TWSs would have been if the grid were a Scrabble board. I submitted my answer via a photo of a Scrabble board.

That said, I, too, hate Scrabble. Anyone else out there find that everyone expects you to love Scrabble because you love crossword puzzles? To me, the games appeal to entirely different sensibilities.

@Clark @Evil - Mr. Thomas' spelling of his name as ISIAH is unusual. The more usual spelling, following most English Bibles' rendition of the Hebrew prophet's name, is ISAIAH ( with an 'A' before and after the 'I'.

I like these quad stacks more than @Rex does. I thought this one was faily easy for a Friday, but I still fell into the usual traps: SEWN ON, EPIC, POPE.

@Rex - I like your puzzle, but I only understood the theme on one level (and you say the title is appropriate on two levels). Maybe @JaxinL.A. and I should talk about this offline - between the two of us we should be able to figure it out :-)

Yes, having a four-stack is an impressive feat -- and impressive feats are okay by me if they make for an enjoyable solve. I found this one quite enjoyable, making me work in places, and giving me aha's. Thanks, Joe!

This one was easy for me. That is until I got to the SW corner. I got as far as AR??STEE and parsed it as AR??S TEE, thinking some kind of (screen printed) t-shirt. ARRESTEE? Really?

Anyway, a disappointing DNF. Brain dead from too much stress at work today. Maybe if I waited until I got home and had some Jameson I would have finished. I made the same mistakes as Rex (RESAT before REMET, SEWN ON before SEWN IN and POPE before POLE), but were easily fixed. Another oops was FIVE before CENT (5 and 10 store).

Those wondering the connection between gas and liter, think propane for portable BBQs and lanterns.

There are soooo many things that I love , here are a few:Sci fi My 67 fury convertible A well laid out workshopSkeptic Magazine Hippie chicks (even though they ask what my sign is)And my One eyed 100 lb golden retriever who died unexpectedly this week.He was the sweetest dog anyone had ever met.

ED - I liked your last paragraph the most. Cannot tell you what pain it caused me to pony up the $39.95 knowing what use the NYT will put it to.

Loren, if you drink one liter of soda that will give you plenty of gas....

Rex seems less cranky today, but I liked his line: "In fact, this is as much as I've enjoyed a Krozel puzzle in a Long time (amazing what you can do when you're not stunting or going for a super low word-count)." Still trying to figure out if that is a compliment or a criticism.

Sometimes when I read comments, especially on this blog, I have the feeling that some people see a connection between Scrabble and the NYT XWP. The only connection I know is that my wife enjoys playing Scrabble on her iPad and I enjoy the NYT XWP. But never the twain shall meet.

I'm hoping nobody wins the Mega Millions so i get a chance to become a billionaire next time. The odds on winning are 176,000,000 to 1. Since the pay-off will be more and likely at least that amount with two winners, this is one of the few times the lottery is actually giving you value for your buck...if you don't mind losing your buck....

@Matthew G - yeah, people always assume crossworders are good Scrabblers. I'm awful. I'm even worse at the Jumble.

@Tobias - I'm really sorry about your dog. The relationship between a human and a dog is truly a magic miracle. James Herriot advises to go out and immediately get another dog - not to replace the one you lost, but the new one helps you grieve. I've found this to be true.

@JFC - I guess soda can do that. I sense there's a story there. . .!For me, it's cooked cabbage. Thirty minutes later, and I can be sky writing!

This is interesting. When I read and comment on the blog from my iPhone, which is almost always, each comment post has a little "Reply" link at the end so that you can create a direct reply to someone's comment. I always wonder why people don't use it more, instead of using the awkward @X notation to reply to previous comments. But today I'm reading/commenting on my laptop (also an Apple), and the posts don't have the "Reply" link. I wonder why?

The puzzle felt pretty easy to me but I was held up in NW and SE. CAR, ORE, ARRESTEE took a looong time to see. (Ore is in a pocket? I've heard of a seam, but...) Still, finished in below average Friday time.

Would love to meet my fellow Minnesotan Rexites at the St. Paul thingy tonight, but I am in San Francisco visiting my newborn nephew Chance.

Oh, and re Scrabble: I agree that crosswords and Scrabble have nothing to do with each other, and people who make that assumption know nothing about either one. Scrabble is mainly about anagramming and scoring strategy, and crosswords are about clue-solving with letter hints. But it surprises me how often people who like one hate the other. They both engage my word nerd brain in ways few other things do.

I guess I'm one of the few who enjoy Scrabble and crossword puzzles. You just need to put your self in a different mind-set. As @Wood pointed out there are 2 different strategies. BTW - my family refuses to play Scrabble with me anymore.

Thank you for the puzzle! It was a fun solve, even tho some of your clues were pretty tough. Got the theme pretty fast b/c how many rappers were born in '62?!And the title was apropos too!Cool!Please sir, may I have some more?

I read this blog a lot, but have never left a comment before. I never realized how much I needed Rex's analysis of a puzzle. I've solved his own extra puzzle, though I needed help. Did not get it at all...I do recognize "hammer time" and "U Can't Touch This". But I can't even figure out which are the theme answers to see how Hammer Time relates to them!

I was happy that I didn't need to resort to Google today, but hampered by my absolute imperative to start 29A with Kremlin, since I already had the 'r' and the 'l' in place. Still, I suppose that would have needed 'Red' in the clue. Happy ending, all the same.

This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation. In a nutshell, the higher the ratio, the higher this week's median solve time is relative to the average for the corresponding day of the week.

All solvers (this week's median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)

@Rex and others: You thought of Magilla Gorilla because that was the intended joke. Considering how many of the classic cartoonists were Jewish, I'm sure that the name was no coincidence. As @Octavian said, the Yiddish expression "die gantse Megillah" means "every single thing". Add in the rhyme, and it's a natural name for a very big creature.

To Anonymous 10:12, thanks for explaining the bonus puzzle theme. From Rex's intro saying that the puzzle was "based on a song" I would have expected the theme answers to relate to that song or its artist. I sat through the video and even read the lyrics but saw no connection to the puzzle except for title of puzzle and artist's name in one answer. The actual theme is clever but mainly in retrospect after the puzzle is finished.

Got hung up at the start, with wrong guesses for 5D (one not TEN cent store), 6D (pol as in pot, not IDI) and 7D (eli as in manning, not OTT). So NW was DNF. Also had neTH, not ISTH, for 25A. But slogged thru the rest, though I too don't know EPOS. That's a good Fri for me.

POpE wilmA had me screwed up for awhile, then I remembered Fred also yelled yABBA DABBA doo and John Paul II was a POLE.

Joe, I take issue with the clue "Not peruse." Peruse and SKIM are synonyms. Had Scan and then SKIm for awhile but MANTOpAN didn't make sense as a defense option. Finally sussed it out. Otherwise, nice Friday puzzle.

@Tobias, you probably won't read this but having had two goldens over 25 years, I feel your pain. Condolences.

@Loren Muse Smith, you probably won't read this either, but I relate to your suckiness at Jumble. I high five myself when over 500 points. Hate Scrabble.

@Lola505, TGIF to you, too, and to our Canadian and Honorary Canadian Syndielanders.

Capcha: oodizon ensted. What we're going to have after all the ozone layer is gone.

@Red, It just seems to me since I've joined the Syndies on Rex's blog that most of the posters are from Washington, Canada and our buddy waaaay across the continent in the Republic of Maine, upon whom @Waxy conveyed Honorary Canadianship last week. It's been a lively week of posts. Have a good weekend of osprey observation.

I think @Rex may hate "serious," or tournament, Scrabble, which overemphasizes defensive play. A more casual, wide-open approach can produce many an enjoyable day.

As for today's puzzle, I had to give up: DNF for the second day in a row. Sorry, I just couldn't make the leap from "Promise, e.g." to a brand name, "Some vaults" to DOMES, or "runner with a hood" to CAR. And ONEAS? Oh, now that I type it out I can see it: you mean 1-A's, those so classified for "the first draft" (GROAN!!) How can you expect anybody to get that? ONEAS. Bah! "Starbuck's has one:" AROMA? Well, I guess it does, but really. Explain to me how I'm supposed to get from one to the other. Now, over here we'll just take the first four letters of "ISTHmus" and call it good. Right.

@Spacecraft -- Thank you for your mini-rant. I agree with you. Sometimes I just can't make the leaps of faith that the constructors expect. I probably will never be one of the people that always can complete a puzzle. DNF for me. ISTH? Really?

I don't know how JK does it - all those 15s stacked on top of one another and he still produces the easiest (for me, anyway) Friday puzzle ever! Loved it!

The more I read the prime-timers comments the more I like syndiland - folks here just seem more appreciative. And a nice little community of commenters seems to be forming, which to my way of thinking is long overdue; after all, we are over half of Rex's readers.

@Tobias Duncan, if you should happen to drop back in - sincere sympathy on the loss of your friend.

@SiS - Upon further refelection, and a glass of bourbon, I feel I must object to your reference to the "Republic of Maine" since that would render me, by definition, a Republican, which I most certainly am not! "Democratic State of Maine" is not much better for similar reasons, so I think I must insist on "Independent Territory of Maine", or perhaps "South Canada" as more acceptable terms of reference. It's a matter of political correctness.

Syndies, I have just returned from Cinco de Mayo dinner at my golf club and feel that I must respond to my virtual amigos before the day ends here in the left coast, as the sports babe refers to us.

I am feeling, as does @Diri, that we have a bonhomie amongst us that equals or exceeds that of the Real Timers. I've noticed that there is almost no enmity in Syndieland - that we are like an outcast community of virtual friends who enjoy sharing CW experiences as well as life experiences. Not to say that I'm not going to disagree (pardon the double negative) with @Lola or @Red if they flame on an issue, but I do enjoy the esprit de corps that we have as the step children of Rex.

In addition, let me say that I view myself as somewhat of an iconoclast. This is the first blog I have ever posted to. I never even post on Facebook. But there is a camaraderie among Rex's NYT CW solvers that is entirely unique in my social experience, and I enjoy the intellect, the wit, and the, yes, smugness that accompanies reading and contributing to such a cool group of individuals that Rex has attracted.

I'm retired, and it's weeks like this that make me wonder how I ever found the time to work. And trying to solve a puzzle at 2:00 am does not bode well for finishing it. At least that's the excuse I'm using for Thursday's entry. As for today's (Fri), I started it early, then picked it up later. And WOW, I DID IT! I did not find it 'easy'; to me it was challenging. I can't even imagine how difficult is must be to construct it. Thank you JK.

Reading the posts by the prime time players is enlightening, and has helped my solving experience. But, thanks to syndieland commenters.

Starbucks (shout out Seattle) does have a nice fresh smell, but when I see 'aroma' I think cinnabon.

@Tobias, if you get this, the grief of losing a best friend is the price we pay for all the unconditional love and fun they give us. IMO, it would be awful never to have had that kind of companionship. And, goldens are a special gift.

Not nearly as enjoyable to solve as yesterday's (which I did today, which is actually tomorrow, which is atually 34 days ago) but some nice long answers.

My only slip was misspelling ISaia early on, which led me to confidently write in crIeS at the start of 39a. Corrected most of that through the crosses but I forgot to revisit that C, so I was left with cEATS ONES BREAST.

The wife played a trick on me yesterday, substituting my usual IMITATION BUTTER with the real thing. I couldn't tell the difference. When she finally told me, I exclaimed "I can't believe it's not I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!"